Electric staplers or tackers are used for many industrial and commercial applications, such as for carpet installation. In installing carpet, staples are commonly used to hold carpet on stairs, for example, and at other places where other types of fasteners such as tack strips are not suitable. The typical electric stapler or tacker has a power head including a staple applying end, a mechanism for feeding staples to the power head, a handle and a trigger for actuating the stapler. The handle and the staple feeding mechanism extend from one side of the power head. For carpet staplers, the power head tapers to relative small dimensions at the staple applying end to permit stapling close to walls, baseboards, steps, etc. A common problem with use of such staplers is in marring the walls, baseboards, and other finished trim adjacent to where the carpet is being stapled. Marring is a problem because it is desirable to apply staples as closely as possible to the walls, etc., and the power head is made from a hard material. To date, there has been no effective means for protecting adjacent walls, baseboards and the like while stapling carpet to a floor. A shield could be held between the stapler and the wall. However, the carpet installer may not have a free hand for holding the shield and the use of a shield would slow down the carpet installer.